Loved to see the changes--some subtle, and some not. Example of a subtle change: of Tom Buchanan, Nick says "even in college his spending capacity was a matter of scandal" in Trimalchio and "even in college, his freedom with money was a matter for reproach" in Gatsby. Example of a not-so-subtle change: Daisy announcing to Nick that she plans to leave Tom.

Reading Challenges
Stronger Spine - 4, a book by an author under the age of 30

I believe I like this early version better that the final product. I feel like I need to re-read The Great Gatsby to make a full comparison, but I enjoyed the dialogue and sections that seem to have been omitted in the final edition. It's apparent that the Leonardo DiCaprio movie pulled quite a bit from this work.

such beautiful imagery and writing, but such a sad story.
s
This isn't exactly the version I read. The cover is identical, but the title is still "the great Gatsby" but it does have a lengthy introduction that includes notes about, and photos of, early drafts, etc.
It is "the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerlad edited by matthew J. Bruccoli.
But I chose this one because the cover illustration is identical and it is the closest to the version I read - from the library.

The title describes the book. The beginning and end are basically the Gatsby we know, the middle portion provides new insight. Absolutely wonderful.

I'm a huge fan of The Great Gatsby; I've read it many times and taught it to a class of high schoolers at least once. It's my favorite non-genre book. To me, it's the Great American Novel. So when I saw this come through my store, I was intrigued to say the least. I'd never heard of this before. It's the original manuscript that Fitzgerald submitted to Scribner's before, at the suggestion of his editors, he did some major and minor rewrites. It had been awhile since I'd read Gatsby, but I'm familiar enough with the book that I recognized much of this: certain scenes, certain sentences. Other things were not familiar to me. The introduction informed me that some sections of the book were mostly the same, but that other parts, notably Chapters 6 & 7 in the middle of the book, had been extensively rewritten. The further I got into the book, the more I knew I was going to have to re-read Gatsby, which I did after finishing this version. (That would be about my 8th time reading Gatsby.) As I read through, I had my paperback copy of Gatsby in one hand, and the hardcover version of Trimalchio open on my lap to the same chapter. I didn't check every sentence or paragraph, but I did look at a lot, especially where I knew there were changes. Much of the early chapters of the book, and the concluding two chapters are very close, often identical, to the final version of Gatsby that we all know. A few changes in word choice and occasional sentence structure stood out, and certain short scenes or descriptions present in Trimalchio were deleted for Gatsby, and at other times, scenes or sentences or descriptions were added. And then, of course, the big changes happen in the central section of the book. It leaves one with a slightly different impression of Nick Carraway, and definitely of Jordan Baker (who I've always loved). It's really amazing to see the changes that Fitzgerald made in the manuscript, and how it resulted in a much better book. Trimalchio would have been a very good book; Gatsby is a masterpiece. I wouldn't recommend Trimalchio to just anyone, but if you're a fan of Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, and interested in seeing how a masterpiece comes together, this was a fascinating exercise.

Scott Fitzgerald is my favourite writer - and this early version of The Great Gatsby stands on its own feet as an accomplished, enjoyable, work in its own right. I found it of great interest because reading each chapter and then the same revised chapter in Gatsby puts you inside Fitzgerald's mind as he reworked his composition.

Considering that this sat amongst Fitzgerald's enormous collection (if there's one thing I've learned from all of the biographical info I've read about him it's that the man saved everything) for years, it's fortunate that this has been made available to the public after all these years. I've taught Gatsby for the last 7 years, and reading this earlier version provided a different insight into Gatsby and Daisy in particular. Chapters 6 and 7 were quite different from what's published in Gatsby, and will answer some questions about the nature of Daisy's and Gatsby's relationship. Also, the introductory notes explaining the literary reference behind the Trimalchio title is instructive. Overall, it's worth the read for Gatsby fans.

I wanted to read this, after reading that Baz Luhrmann used parts of it to make the movie. I found some of the "inconsistencies" with the version of the Great Gatsby that I'm familiar with that Luhrmann built into the movie. I didn't find it so terribly different-- we get more of Gatsby's back story, and it seems that Fitzgerald did intend Nick Carraway to be gay based on his deeper description of the relationship between Jordan and Nick.

All in all it was an interesting read-- I appreciated some of the Appendixes which explained many of the now obscure references (would have been nice to have all of those at my fingertips when I first started teaching the novel.)

Great book to read!

What can I say about this one? I expected to mark it five stars for the chance to see Fitzgerald's process, even though it would really only be a three or four star book in its early, unimproved state, but I think it was already five star level at this point. There are noticeable changes in the finished Gatsby, and they were all improvements, but this would have been a great novel if it came out in this version.

I read this less for personal than academic reasons. I'm teaching novel revision in the fall and wanted to expose my students to an early draft of a novel they all know. (Or might all know.) Trimalchio, though advertised as an "early version" of the Great Gatsby didn't seem that early to me. There was one chapter that simply does not exist in Gatsby and never could exist. Another chapter reads a bit differently, but not in ways that are crucial and fundamental. Many of the remaining seven chapters struck me as essentially the same as in Gatsby. I'm sure a line by line analysis of the two novels would show more dissimilarities than I'm suggesting, but on a casual read through, coming on the heels of a read through of Gatsby, I found the novels to be in most ways, and all the important ways, the same. The introduction to Trimalchio tries to argue for more dissimilarity, and set me up to find substantial amounts of such, but again the novels just didn't feel that different to me. I don't know whether to call that a good or bad thing, but it is a little weird when you're expecting and looking for difference.

I didn't find the book engaging. I was left with disgust for all of the characters. I never became emotionally attached to any of the characters. I felt disappointed with the corollary commentary on wealth and happiness.